Rowan Receives Second Team All-West Region Honors from ABCA

By Robert McKinney, Athletics Communications Director, (503) 370-6110

SALEM, ORE. -- Willamette University senior outfielder Mitch Rowan (LF, Cotati, CA/Rancho Cotate HS) has been chosen Second Team All-West Region by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA). Rowan led the Bearcats with a .342 batting average, 10 home runs, 34 runs scored and 40 RBIs this spring.

A total of 16 athletes from NCAA Division III were named First Team All-West Region. Another 17 players chosen for the Second Team with 18 players on the Third Team.

It was the second time Rowan has received All-West Region honors from the ABCA. He was named First Team All-West Region by the ABCA in 2010. Earlier this spring, he was chosen Second Team All-West Region by D3baseball.com.

Rowan earned First Team All-Northwest Conference honors in 2010 and was Second Team All-NWC in 2012.

The Bearcats received significant leadership at the plate from Rowan this season, as he topped the Willamette offensive chart in nearly every category. In addition to leading WU in batting average, homers, runs and RBIs, he also ranked first with a .719 slugging percentage, a .503 on-base percentage, 11 doubles, 22 extra-base hits, 36 walks and three sacrifice flies.

In the Northwest Conference, he ranked first in walks, second in home runs and slugging percentage, and fourth in RBIs. At the national level, he ranked 5th in the final NCAA Division III statistics in walks per game (36 in 35 games, 1.03 avg.), 10th in home runs per game (10, 0.29 avg.), 17th in slugging percentage, 38th in RBIs per game (40, 1.14 avg.) and 41st in on-base percentage.

Rowan achieved a .356 career batting average as a Bearcat, including a career-high of .403 in 2010. He contributed 144 hits in 404 at bats. He also scored 103 runs and produced 123 RBIs.

He finished his career ranked fourth all-time at WU in batting average and was third with 27 career home runs. He also ranked fifth in RBIs and tied for seventh with 32 doubles. He was 10 for 10 on stolen bases this spring, increasing his career total to 26 successful steals on 28 attempts.

Rowan also was solid on defense. He attained 167 career putouts to go along with three assists and a .983 overall fielding percentage. This year, he recorded a 1.000 fielding percentage with 64 putouts, two assists and no errors.

Willamette finished the 2012 season with a 14-23 record, including 9-14 in the NWC (6th place). The Bearcats ranked second in the nation in NCAA Division III with 35 home runs in 37 games played for an average of 0.95 home runs per game. The Bearcats tied for 21st in the nation with 190 walks. Willamette averaged 6.73 runs per game.

This spring, Rowan graduated from Willamette with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Exercise Science. He has signed with the University of San Francisco to play NCAA Division I baseball next season. He will be using the year of eligibility he received from a medical hardship waiver after missing all but seven games at WU in 2010 due to a broken hand.

Rowan is currently playing for the Willmar Stingers (Minn.) of the Northwoods League. It is his second season with the Stingers. Last year, he ranked ninth in the entire Northwoods League with a .333 average. The NWL is a collegiate summer baseball league that uses wooden bats.